Great Sand Dunes

I have neglected this blog.  I have been awfully busy.   If you follow me on facebook you know I was trying to get a model to pose in water.  It turned out to be a time consuming little project.  It also failed not because the model called at the last minute and cancelled.  I know this has nothing to do with the Great Sand Dunes, but the world didn't end either.

In 2007 Lou and I made the trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It has the highest dunes in the United States with the highest dune measuring 750 feet.  It attracts vacationers from all over the world totaling about 300,000 people a year.  The fascination with the park is the sand, but there is so much more than that there.  Our visit included snow, 10 inches of it.

I decided to write about The Great Sand Dunes because two of my photographs were selected for display this summer.  This post is mostly photographs with snippets about the stay.

On the first full day there we decided to search the area around the Dunes.   We planned to explore the Dunes later on our visit.  THe snow killed that plan.    A collection of photographs from that day:

(By the way click on the photographs to see them larger, and back to get to the page.)  Hey don't down load these it is a violation of Copyright.  Another way of saying it:  it is stealing.

IS0 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/640  There are three hikers in this photograph.  They help give scale to the dunes.

                                     
ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/400  Notice the depth of the dunes.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250   This is one of my favorites.  This river only runs part of the year.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 400, F4, Shutter Speed 1/1250

                                           

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

So that night it snowed.  And snowed. And snowed.  

                                     

And it was still snowing the next morning.  We were staying in a cabin just outside the Park.  We had a space heater, but the electricty kept flickering.  So, we packed up.  No we didn't leave.  There was a motel right next door.  We checked in.  If we were going to be without heat I wanted company.  I kept thinking snow covered dunes, and that it would be unusal.  Later I was to find out that the park only had a few photographs of the Dunes with snow on them.  The sand retains heat and the snow melts quickly.  So day three was spent waiting for snow plows, swimming (indoor pool) and a quick trip to town.   Well I did work in a couple of pictures.

If you think you see a bunch of dots in the picture, you would be right.  It's snow.  Oh there are birds too.

Roads plowed about 4 pm.  Even though its still snowing, its time to get out in it.  

                                           

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250  

Did I mention it was still snowing?  

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640 The storm retreated and then the snow stopped and the dunes were covered. 

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

The next day at sunrise.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed1/640

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed1/640

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 100, F32, Shutter Speed 1/40  The reason for the F-stop was to make the whole photograph sharp. 

It was cold.

                                      

 ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

                                          













ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250  

ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/2000  This last photograph gives the best scale, and is taken as we left.   The hikers are dwarfed by the dunes.  There had been 10 inches of snow, and it is mostly gone 24 hours after it stopped.   My submission for consideration included 23 photographs found here in a slide show:  http://www.grangersimagesandaction.com/Great%20Sand%20Dunes%20National%20Park/index.html

From the slideshow they approved 9.  These are the two I chose and are the ones on display:

Next time let's do flowers, and then sports.   

Camera Settings and a Rehash

First the rehash and then the settings.  I know I just spent considerable time discussing ISO, F-stop and shutter speed, but what the hey.  Here comes a quick recap.

Lied a photograph of the Bellagio Fountain for no particular reason.  F22, 1/160, ISO 200

Shutter speed:  Shutter speed is the length of time the shutter allows light to get to the sensor.  The faster the shutter speed the greater the likelihood of freezing motion and eliminating camera shake.   To obtain the wanted shutter speed you can adjust ISO or the F-stop.   Slow the shutter speed to raise the F-stop, or to lower the ISO setting.

F-stop: Is used to control how much light gets to the sensor.  The lower the setting the more light gets to the the sensor.  So at a setting of F2 more light gets to the sensor than a setting of F8.  To obtain a faster shutter speed use a wider opening F-stop such as F4 or F2.8.  On the other hand to get greater depth of field use an F-stop such as F16 or higher.

ISO:  Is the scale used to identify how sensitive the sensor is to light.   A lower number decreases the sensitivity to light, and a higher number increases it.  With ISO 100 a slower shutter speed or a smaller F-stop is needed than at ISO 400.  The higher the ISO the greater the risk of digital noise.

It is the interaction of ISO, F-stop, and shutter speed that controls light in camera.  Understanding the interaction of the three and learning to manipulate the interaction is key to better photographs.  It is the difference between bad pictures and good pictures, good pictures and great pictures.  The reason is that photography is nothing more than understanding light and manipulating it.   Hey that sounded pretty good, but it is a little overstated.

My sister has just recently become a photo fanatic.  She is out at a lake near her house frequently, and spends time photographing flowers in other people yards (She takes so many photographs she can't grow her own), and then there are the grandchildren.  She is  just at the beginning of understanding ISO, shutter speed and F-stop.  She has taken some beautiful photographs.  The reason is she has an innate understanding of "pretty".   An understanding of pretty can overcome not knowing the technical stuff.

Enough of this already let's cover some settings.  The first one is the easiest one.  On some cameras it is "P" for program, "A" for automatic and it used by those of you who just want to click the shutter.   On most cameras today they will set the ISO, shutter speed, F-stop, get milk or beer at the store, train your dog, and sing Mary Had a Little all at the same time.  Usually the camera will tell you if the picture is about to be ugly.  There will be a light that will flash or something.  The only thing you really have to watch is getting too close.  If you get too close you get a pic like this:

Cameras just don't like too close and so they get even by screwing up the photo.  Well unless you shoot macro, but that is another story.  Somewhere in that manual you never read is the minimum focusing distance.  I think they should have a built in tape measure.

For the rest of these you may have to actually get the dreaded manual out to see how to set you camera.  I know I get a little wordy but those manuals, they don't even try to tell a joke.  The next setting is aperture priority.  Aperture is another term for F-stop.  When using this setting the photographer will determine the F-stop (aperture) the camera will do all the rest of it for you.  That's it set the F-stop take the photograph.  On a Canon this is called Av.  Why? I don't have the slightest idea.  I guess since they make the cameras they could have called it swiss cheese.  It just doesn't make sense to me.   The name for this setting varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Shutter priority is the third setting.  This works just like aperture priority except you set the shutter speed.  The camera will then determine the correct F-stop, and with some cameras even the ISO.

So there you have it, those pesky settings.  There are a bunch of other settings usually accompanied with little pictures, but I don't understand the purpose of them.  If someone out there wants to write about them I would be more than happy to post it.

One final note these posts are to help you understand how a camera works.  It is my hope that some of you will take better photo as a result.  In other words when faced with a difficult shooting situation you will think and then shoot.   The important thing however is to get the shot.  If your Daught Jane is about to dunk the basketball and your ISO is set on the ugly side take the pic, your new born son decides to pee just after you took her diaper off and hits your husband grab the camera even though it will be underexposed and shoot.  Sometimes they aren't great photographically,  but they are just great.  The most important thing is what I call "get the shot"    There are no etched in stone rules, don't stop because just because you read something here or there that says this or that.  Just get the shot and have a good time.  Like these two:

Wildlife Photo Shoot part 2

This is my second post about the nature area I discovered on the Virgin River.  For this trip I planned an early morning trip.  I knew the sun would rise behind me and the sun would highlight my subjects.  I had initial success, but I will save that photograph until near the end.  So let's begin.

This is not much of a photograph.  I saw these birds and started sneaking up on them.  My technique is walk toward them at a slow pace until they stop feeding.  Then I stop and wait until they go back to feeding.   I wait a little while and then start walking toward them.  I keep repeating this until I think they have had enough and are about to fly.  I then stop and photograph what I can.  Sounds good on paper doesn't it.  They were actually being quite calm but then I made a mistake.  I raised my hand to scratch my head hit my sunglasses and knocked them to the ground.  I said "Bye ya'll" to them as they left, and bent to get those &^@(*^&$ glasses.  ISO 5.6, 1/500, ISO 100.

Sometimes though you expect to shoot birds, and it is sand that catches your eye.  There is something about the texture and the design that just fascinates me.  I am certain there is a restaurant in Vegas inspired by sand (see post below).  Anyway it was the sand that caught my attention.

F18, 1/50, ISO 100

F4, 1/1250, ISO 100

F22, 1/40, ISO 100  I kinda like the claw prints.

This is the restaurant I think is sand inspired.

F2, 1/25, ISO 800

This next photograph caught my eye, but I had a difficult time with it.  There was something missing.  I actually left it and took the above sand photographs and returned.   

F18, 1/50,ISO 100

I looked again and then took this photograph.  These are the blades of grass in the background of the first photograph.

F18, 1/50, ISO 100

I prefer this photograph to all the others.  

THis is one of the first photographs I took.  It is of Cinnamon Teal as they take flight.  I had been using my sneak technique, but I got too far into their comfort zone.  The zone, different for each animal, is the closest distance an animal will allow you to get before leaving town faster than a cat leaving a hot tin roof.  

F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200

THis photograph was taken hand held with a 400mm lens.  THe significance is that the longer the lens the more it is subject to camera shake.  To overcome the bad effects of shake a fast shutter speed is needed then add birds in flight and the shutter speed had better be cranked up.  I am proud of the shot.  

This is one of the final photographs I took.  As you can see I am fairly close, and definitely inside the comfort zone.  In my previous trips I knew this to be a hangout for ducks.  I approached cautiously taking off my backpack, and checking my cameras settings.  I got down on my stomach.  Yes I did!  You weren't there, and shouldn't argue with me.  I inched forward on my stomach as my shirt, and pants filled with sand.  I got into position, and started shooting.  After about 10 minutes one of them spotted me, and it was off to the races.

F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200

Lesson:

-Don't drop your sunglasses

-The longer the lens the faster the shutter speed needed.  In fact some say that you should multiply the mm of the lens to compensate.  Example: 100 mm lens will need a shutter speed of 1/200.  I'm not so sure, but the longer the lens, the more caution is needed.

-Be prepared to fill you shirt and pants with sand.

-Look for what it is that makes the photograph. The blades of grass in the shot above. 

Wildlife Photo Shoot part 1

The Virgin river flows through Mesquite.  This past winter the Virgin river flooded taking a number of homes and damaging two golf courses.  It also cleared out the dense undergrowth along its banks, and created some pools of water.  The other day I walked there.  I discovered a natural park with numerous birds.   I returned a few days later with a camera in hand to scout more throughly.

I shot this:

and this:

And this

I didn't think I would get a photos at all.   I was just wanting to check out the sun, see how close I could get to the birds and where they were hanging out.  I had gotten ready for my expedition by attaching a 400mm lens to the camera.  It is my longest telephoto lens.  To photograph I wanted to accomplish two primary goals freeze action, and isolate the subject.  So I set the camera to its lowest f-stop 5.6 which gave the shallowest depth of field.  This would help to isolate the subject against a busy background.   I also wanted a fast shutter speed.  I figured that any opportunity would be a moving subject.  I decided to try 1/800.  In order to achieve the  shutter speed I choose ISO 400.  This was the lowest ISO I could set and still achieve the shutter speed.  

I walked for a while and suddenly the mallards in the first photograph took flight.  I lucked out they circled me several times.  In the next 2 minutes and 30 seconds I took 32 photographs.  It would have been more but the sun was setting.   As they circled in the direction of the sunset they would be in the shadow and underexposed.  The lesson is to approach the subject with the sun behind you.  There is another lesson the time of day.  The hour just before sunset and the hour just after sunrise usually give the best light.  I walked home after the sun had set.  

The second two photographs have a couple more lessons.  

This is the first shot I took in the set.  Those are Cinnamon Teals in the foreground.  There is also a little guy to the left of the American Avocet (thanks Dottie).   Well If I would chosen a a smaller f-stop (f11-f22), maybe, just maybe I could have gotten the teals in focus and improved this shot immensely.  But, I have this thing for birds like the Avocet.  I just focus on them.  Later, I realized that the Teals were there and got the shot I posted of them.   The little guy to the left of the Avocet flew before I could feature him.  

So here are my lessons

- Get ready.  Decide your camera settings, and the equipment needed.

-Hour before sunset and sunrise provide excellent light.

-Learn from my mistake.  Do not focus one thing and see the whole.  THe opposite is also true do not focus on the whole and forget about the parts.  

-It is usually better to approach with the sun behind you.  

  

Light outside the camera

Shutter speed, ISO, and F-stop control light in camera, now the rest of the story.  There are more light sources outside the camera than there are purchasers of the Sport Illustrated swim suit issue.  Let's see; turn on or off the light, open/close the blinds, turn on a monitor, light a match, and then a candle, reflection of the sun off tin foil, oh that flash on the camera, car headlights, or a mirror.  All of those are light sources and I have not even scratched the surface.  There has been more written on this than there are sources.  If you think I'm gonna talk about all this junk in detail, then you think I would walk against traffic on the strip in Las Vegas.  Cabbies would kill you in a second.  Well anyway there are a lot of light sources, and a lot has been written about them.  I am going to discuss briefly discuss the reason this is important and then discuss the use of flash.  

Cameras do not see the way we do.  We can see details in the shadows and bright sunlight, but cameras can only see one or the other.    This explains why there are parts of a photograph overexposed and parts underexposed or visa versa.  The picture of the flower below illustrates the point.

There is not a backdrop used in the photograph.  The flower was in bright sunlight, but the background was in shadow.  The camera could not see the shadowed area because the camera was set to see the flower.  If the camera had been set to see the background the detail on the flower would have been overexposed.   The lesson here is that you can't have it both ways.  If you want to shoot both the shadow and the light  then either more light needs to be added to the shadows or the lighted area needs to shaded.  This is the reason so many different light sources are used.  

The most used source of artificial light in photograph is the flash.  It is also the light source I see misused the most.  There are three misuses of the flash I'm going to discuss.

The first problem is understanding the lack of flash power.  I frequently see pics like this: 

                                          

The wall is lit, but that is me in the shadows.  There is just not enough light, because the flash is not strong enough.  You would be better off to try a higher ISO and a slower shutter speed.  Unless you find me that ugly and then the photograph would have achieved your goal.  By the way if the flash will not light me then it will not light up an auditorium.  Those graduation pics will light the bald spots on the back of heads, but Johnny or Sue will be in darkness.  Those on board flashes light up from 6 to 12 feet.  That's all folks.  Here is a pic adjusting the ISO, shutter speed, and F-stop.   Sometimes the flash just doesn't cut it.

Here is another problem. 

Yes I have looked better, but that is not the deal here.  It is that blob of light.  All you young ladies taking that pic into the mirror.  Well it has gone to the ugly.  Not as bad as me of course but none the less.  The same thing will happen if you try to shoot through glass.  It will be ugly.  Control your selves do not do it.  If there is glass between you and the subject there will be ugly.  The same thing will happen if there is glass behind the subject.   Again, try turning off the flash and adjusting the ISO, shutter speed and F-stop.

And yet another problem:

                                          

Notice the wrinkles in the forehead, the slits where eyes belong, the crinkled nose, the shadow of the leaves on my head.  This happens frequently with the subject looking into the sun.  The photograph is ugly.  Turn the subject so they face away from the sun, or place them in the shade and turn on the flash    

                                      

Oh, look how handsome he is now.  Well he isn't looking at the camera, but what do you expect?   So there you have it sometimes in doors you should turn the flash off.  I know everyone and their brother has told you inside use the flash, but try it.  Going outside, hey, try turning the flash on.  Inside flash off, outside flash on.  This isn't always going to work.  Most of the time flash inside will work, and no flash outside will work, but consider the situation.  SO before you shoot think flash on, flash off; flash on, flash off .  thanks Miyagi